Is transferring as a Junior worth it? (Incoming for Fall 2026)
I’m a CS major from Minnesota. For those of you who have transferred as juniors. Is it worth it? And do you see the transfer paying off? My reason for transfer is just wanting a new experience out of state (Minnesota) and being in a new environment but in terms of academics and job opportunities I’d say it’s about the same. The courses for me are somewhat of an issue as I have more liberal education courses to take at UW-Madison than Minnesota. I’m just am wondering if this transfer is worth it or not and hearing about other experiences that people have had.
I’m not having the worst time in Minnesota and I think I have a good network here overall. But in terms of lifestyle, it’s kind of tiring being in-state for me and I’d just like to increase the entropy in my life by going out of state and being far from home as it might teach me to be more independent from family. I know a good amount of people at UW but I’d still have to put in a lot of effort in networking and meeting people. I don’t know if it’s worth that time and effort when I could spend more time trying to get an internship outside of Minnesota. That’s why I’m stuck in deciding if it’s worth it as a junior.
For context, I would graduate a semester early at Minnesota and Madison would be the full 4 years of college. Financially, there isn’t much of an issue to me. And I currently have an internship in Minnesota.
If anyone has done this, I'd like to hear more about it!